This is a very personal, moving piece by @jsonbecker.

It’s surreal to see your cousin in a Washington Post video. It’s worse when the reason she’s being interviewed is because of her experience living in a community in Israel that was overrun on October 7th.

It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen her.

I am 42 years old. The “conflict in the Middle East” was present on the news for as long as I can remember. When I was around 15 years old I had the chance to take part in a student exchange program and travel to Israel. We lived in Ashkelon, a small city very close to the Gaza strip. It must have been near the end of the 90s and I guess it was a bit more relaxed (don’t want to say peaceful…) back then. I was able to visit Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and I am still impressed by what I experienced. The magic, the food, the architecture and all of the history. I would love to go back there and see everything with my adult eyes and experience it with the knowledge and appreciation I have today. But I wouldn’t go there now, or previously. As a kid I didn’t understand why people couldn’t stop fighting and my understanding did not grow as an adult. The blind hate and it’s source in the people’s religions is one reason I do not like religion. I don’t think that the fighting will ever stop in my lifetime and that thought makes me very sad. I am glad, personally, that I do not have any relatives in that region. My situation is very different from Jason’s. Still I feel for him and how torn he has to feel. How frustrated and helpless.